


Midnight Snack

by castlealbion



Series: Only the Fullest Heart [3]
Category: Beauty and the Beast (2017), Beauty and the Beast - All Media Types
Genre: Belle really hates Gaston, F/F, Some angst, girl talk, just some conversation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-09 12:41:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11104776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/castlealbion/pseuds/castlealbion
Summary: When Maurice is away and Belle can't sleep, Agathe comes to visit and a conversation ensues. Its the last piece that Agathe needs to set her plan in motion.I firmly believe Agathe wanted Belle in particular to break the curse.





	Midnight Snack

30 DAYS OF BEAUTY AND THE BEAST CHALLENGE  
DAY 3 - MIDNIGHT

The clock struck 11 and still Belle was unable to fall asleep, she never really slept well when her father was away. Usually it was just because of the unfamiliarity of sleeping alone in the cottage, Maurice snored so loudly that she sometimes imagined the windows rattling. But she had had the whole of her life to get used to the sound and the quietness of the night in his absence threw her off balance.

 

This time however was different, her mind wouldn’t still and she kept replaying the events of the day in her head. The actions of the townspeople as they threw her wet laundry shouldn’t have surprised her after all this time. The pity and helplessness of the face of Pere Robere had only served to make her feel worse. But despite all that, the look of pride in little Eva’s eyes as she had tread the words on the page had given Belle hope. Times would change and maybe she wouldn’t live to see it, but they would. All it took was one girl to start a trickle, that would turn into a stream, and then into a flood.

Belle couldn’t understand why the villagers were so against girls being educated, it was fairly common in places like Paris, so she had been told. But it wasn’t even that they were against education, it was anything that could make the drudgery of everyday life easier. Their thinking was just so backwards and infuriating. Or perhaps it was just her they had a problem with. She knew they considered her strange and almost unnatural, she had grown used to the whispers and stares long ago, but it still hurt. She knew that her father felt safe here, wanted her protected from the world, but Belle wanted so much more. There so many things that she wanted to see and experience, there was so much more to life than this.

All in all she admitted, the feeling she felt most was dissatisfaction.  
And then there was Gaston. Her lips curled in distaste as she recalled him arrogantly treading on the cabbages in her garden, too busy going on about himself to notice or even care. Sure he was handsome, and Belle had admittedly felt a slight attraction for the first day after he he’d ridden back into town for his hero's welcome. Then he had opened his mouth and that was the end of it. Never had she met a man so full of his own importance and so clueless. Every word out of his mouth was about him, his deeds, his wants, his appeal. Belle had spent a year silently laughing at how ridiculous he appeared and how pathetic the girls who vied for his attention were. 

Then, for some undetermined reason, Gaston had decided to set his sights on her. Why, she had no idea as there were half a dozen ninnies who would gladly spend their lives stroking his ego. For weeks now she’d had to time her outings to when she knew he would be out hunting or drinking at the inn. She had consistently and often rudely made it clear that she disliked him and didn’t welcome his advances, but the thick-headed lout was so sure of his own prowess that he ignored all her protestations.

Today, however, his actions had become something more than just an annoyance. His talk of children, the fact that she’d had to slam the door in his smiling face showed that this wasn’t going to pass. The thought of being married to man like him was terrifying, her freedom would be forever lost and she would exist only as his, his wife and his property. The sudden flash in her mind of him pawing at her nightgown in bed caused her stomach to revolt. She bolted out of bed and hung her head out the window, gulping in the cool evening air.

It would never happen, she would run away before she ever submitted to such a life. Her father, dear as he was, may not have the will to keep her from it, he rather liked Gaston and only saw his strength, his ability to provide and protect her from whatever it was that he feared so much.

“No, I’ll never submit!”

“Never is a very long time.”

Belle jumped as the lilting voice spoke to her from the darkness of the garden. Slowly a figure emerged from the shadows and she recognized Agathe standing there.

“Agathe, are you alright?” The beggar woman never wandered the village this late at night when there was no light to protect her from the harshness of the inhabitants.  
“Stay there.”

 

Belle pulled a robe over her nightclothes and made her way downstairs to open the garden door.

“Why don’t you come inside, can I get you something to eat?”

Agathe nodded gratefully, taking a seat at the kitchen table as Belle fetched bread, cheese and fruit.

“Thank you child. Sit and tell me about the book I saw you carrying at the market yesterday.”

Belle smiled, Agathe was a kindred spirit, no matter her situation in life and she looked on the woman as a friend. Often she would read aloud from whichever book she had borrowed and Agathe was always curious as to Belle’s thoughts.

“Romeo and Juliet.” Belle sighed in pleasure. “Do you know it?”

Belle watched Agathe shake her head and think for a moment.  
“Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight.” she murmured.

“For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” Belle finished excitedly.

Both women laughed. Agathe never spoke of her life or childhood but she was clearly educated, and she had a good heart.

“It’s my favourite story.” Belle admitted.

Agathe simply nodded, a curiously amused smile curling her lips as she ate.

“What troubles you so, Belle?”

“My life.” Belle answered honestly. “I feel so stuck and out of place, like there’s something missing but I don’t know what.”

“You have the attention of the most handsome man in town, most girls would kill for that.”

 

Belle made a face of disgust.

“No One thinks Gaston more handsome than Gaston himself.” she snapped. “He’s plying his trade in the wrong market.”

Agathe shrugged. “You would always have a home, and a place here. That’s a great deal more than many women could hope for.”

“I have thought about that, really I have.”

“But it's not enough?”

“No. I want so much more than just this. Everything thinks all I need is a husband and brood of children and I will be content, but that’s not who I am. Besides, have you spoken to Gaston lately?”

“We don’t exactly run in the same circles.” Agathe commented ruefully.

In fact, Gaston was downright cruel to Agathe, under the guise of charm and teasing. It was one of the first things that Belle had noticed about his real character.

“The fact is, even if I was content to spend the rest of my life in this village, Gaston would still be the last man I could ever think about marrying. No amount of handsomeness can hide the ugliness inside.”

“What is it you want in love then? Surely you’ve thought as much about what you do want as what you don’t.”

“Of course.” Belle smiled. “A kind and loving heart would satisfy me. A man who reads, and isn’t threatened by an educated woman, who wants to see and experience all there is in the world. Someone who wouldn’t trample me underfoot, but who would consider me his equal. I don’t want to be some man’s wife, I want to be the right man’s partner in life.”

“Still, handsome wouldn’t hurt.”

Belle laughed. “Naturally, but a man who is handsome in thought and deed is far more desirable than one who is merely pretty to look at. The more you love someone’s heart the more handsome they become to you.”  
Agathe looked thoughtful.

“What if he doesn’t exist, or you never meet him?”

“He does exist, just somewhere that's not here. And if he doesn’t then I would rather be a spinster than marry a man I didn’t love.”

“You know how they treat spinsters in this town, Belle.” Agathe reminded her seriously.

Belle’s eyes darkened. Of that she was well aware, having seen herself how callously Agathe was treated. It was one reason why she made a point to openly buy the woman bread and jam at the market every morning, knowing that the village folk frowned upon it. Much to Belle’s chagrin though, Agathe had never accepted anything else from her, not even when Belle offered a room in the cottage.

“Then at least we will both have company, won’t we. I would rather live a hard life than an untrue one.”

“Well then, here’s to us!” Agathe laughed, toasted with her cup of milk.

“Indeed.”

“I should go, thank you for the meal, Belle.”

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather stay here and make the trip tomorrow?”

“You know better than that by now.”

“Never hurts to try.” Belle shrugged.  
“Sleep well, Gaston may be a brute but even he isn’t stupid enough to accost you in your home with your father gone.”

Belle sighed as she locked the door behind her guest. In a fairer world Agathe wouldn’t be the one living in a lean to in the woods, Gaston would. Still, Belle would gladly join her if it came to it. Any price was worth paying for her freedom.

The clock struck midnight as Belle lay back down and closed her eyes, asleep in a moment. She never saw Agathe smile and raise her hand, glistening yellow light pouring forth, shooting unseen by the human eye, toward the forest where Maurice would be making his way home in a day or two.

“It's time.” she whispered as she walked away.

A dusting of that same light floated through belle’s open window, settling unnoticed on her brow and bringing dreams of crystal blue eyes that shone with love and hope.


End file.
